The Story of Psyche and Eros

8/12/2019 The Story of Psyche and Eros

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Little rascal

The Eros who is the son of

Aphrodite, a very wicked boy

as some say, lacking all

manners, and spending his

time in running all night longfrom building to building, and

with his arrows breaking up

respectable homes.



Psyche worshipped for her

beautyPsyche was one of the three

daughters of an otherwise unknown

king and his queen. All three sisters

were very beautiful, but Psyche’s

beauty was beyond description.

People would talk about her as if she

were Aphrodite incarnated as a

mortal. Her beauty was such that she

was considered to be a new Goddess

of Love, and as her Fame spread

many came from distant countries to

witness this extraordinary wonder.



Aphrodite neglected

As a result, the shrines of

Aphrodite were empty

and her festivals

neglected, and instead of

visiting the temples of this

sweet goddess, people

made long pilgrimages to

see the greatest beauty oftheir time, the princess

Psyche. In this way they

started worshipping

Psyche, scattering flowers

in her path, and

addressing her by the

titles that belong to lovely

Aphrodite.



Ridiculous cultThe goddess disliked this state

of affairs, as there is nothing

more ridiculous than when a

mortal is regarded and

honoured as a god. For,however brilliant a human may

be, there is no way of

comparing a mortal, who walks

upon the dirty mud of earth,

with the subtle delicacy of

those who inhabit Heaven.



Possible remedy

So, as so many had lost their minds

worshipping a mortal as a god,

Aphrodite thought the time had

come to put things right, and calling

her darling son Eros, she instructed

him to shoot his arrows against the

girl, and thus make her fall in lovewith some kind of accomplished

outcast of a man, the worst

specimen of the human race he

could find, lacking rank, fortune,

character, intelligence, courage, and

whatever good quality one could

think of, and being in the most

perfect state of degradation.



Psyche feels miserable

During all this time Psyche got not

satisfaction at all, because men, instead of

falling in love with her in a plain way, stared

at her, praised her, and paid her all kinds of

honors, without ever daring to make love to

her. So while her elder sisters were married

to kings, the mass of admirers and

worshippers were still treating her like awonderful statue. And because of this

absurd situation, Psyche, who had remained

single, started feeling miserable, and began

to hate that same beauty of hers, which had

turned her into an object of cult.



The Oracle

Even her father started fearing that

this inconvenient cult might upset

the gods, which inevitably happens

when humans transgress the limits

of their nature, acting as if they

were someone else. So he went to

the Apollo’s Oracle at Miletus, and

there he asked where he was to finda husband for her daughter, given

that all men showed such an

abnormal behavior. But the answer

he received was of no consolation,

since the Oracle declared that

Psyche was to marry a horrible

monster on the top of a mountain.



The Day of the

Wedding

Following the Oracle, aprocession, looking

more like a funeral

cortege than a bridal

train, was then formed

to lead Psyche to the

top of the mountain,and there they left her

weeping and trembling

until the West Wind

(Zephyrus 1), suddenly

springing up, lifted her

off the ground, andhaving carried her down

into a valley, laid her gently on a bed starred with flowers. There she stopped crying and fell

asleep, and when she awoke she walked towards a near-by wood, and in its very heart she

found a palace, so wonderfully built that she knew at once that this was the residence of a god.

http://www.paleothea.com/Gallery/PsycheWall.html



The First Night

When she had walked among the many wonders treasured in this fabulous castle, a voice coming

from nowhere informed her that the castle was hers, and gently invited her to rest in the bedroom

while she awaited her bath and the wedding banquet.

When later the banquet was

over, she went to her

bedroom, and while she lay

awake in the dark she heard

the gentle whisper of her

unknown husband, as he was

climbing into bed with her.

But after having made love

to her, her husband left her,

just before daybreak. And in

this way night after night her

husband paid her visit,

without ever showing

himself.



Psyche’s Anxiety

But when she again saw

herself left alone by this

lovely but still

mysterious husband, she

felt like a prisoner in the

wonderful palace, even

forbidden to relieve the

minds of her worried

sisters. And as she knewnothing better than

crying, and at the same

time said that she would

die unless she were

allowed to see her lovely sisters, her unknown husband consented. However, he warned her that her

sisters were evil-minded women, and would try to make her discover how he looked like; and that ifshe ever agreed to this it would be the end of her happiness, and she would lose him forever. On

hearing this Psyche, calling him “soul of my soul” and thanking him many times, said that she never

would consent to such a thing. So he, overcome by her and his own love, however reluctantly,

promised to arrange the visit of her sisters, and as always disappeared at daybreak.



Family Concern &

Warning Meanwhile, Psyche’s parents and

sisters were wasted in grief and

tears believing her dead, and the

sisters reunited with the parents

in order to console them. And

when her sisters started

searching for her, the unknown

husband warned Psyche not to

listen or look at them if she

wanted to avoid utter ruin and

unhappiness.

Psyche’s sisters

come to visit her Next day the West Wind brought

Psyche’s sisters from the top of

the mountain to the castle, and as the unknown husband had said, they started to feel miserably jealous as soon as

they arrived and saw the wonderful abode of Psyche. And as it is the case in such circumstances, they thought that

Psyche was really not worth such goddess-like prosperity, for themselves, if they had the chance, they would know

better than her how to make proper use of such masses of jewels, embroidered dresses, floors made of gems and

set in gold, and all other marvels.



Psyche’s sisters feel miserable too

So, having been confronted with such tremendous wealth, the sisters now saw their own husbands,

not as kings as they really were, but rather as beggars, and their own palaces they judged to be

shabby homes; and having received presents from Psyche, they decided not to show them to

anybody, and not even mention that Psyche was still alive. For through such a simple device they

intended to deprive Psyche of the pleasure of being rich, because, what pleasure is to be found in

possessions, they reasoned, if nobody knows about it? But for the future they agreed to think of a

way of making this proud Psyche a little bit more humble, and so to say, bring her back to reality.



New visit, new warning

The god knew that a storm was about to

come with the sisters’ next visit, and he

once more warned Psyche not to speak

a word about him, as the sisters were

scheming for their destruction and

would finally urge the now pregnantPsyche to look at her husband’s face.

But as Psyche insisted, and now she

even argued that it would be bad for the

baby if she felt unhappy, the god, out of

love, consented again, and as before

disappeared at daybreak.



Sowing Doubt

When the sisters paid a new

visit, they reminded Psyche of

Apollo’s oracle, and carefully

put into her mind that she was

perhaps lying all nights with a

poisonous snake. And as

doubt became the master of

Psyche’s mind, the sistersfound her ready to receive

their bold instructions: to

prepare a lamp and a knife for

the night and to wait for her

husband’s sleep, and then,

with the light to assist her,

plunge the knife in her

husband’s neck and cut off his

head.



Preparing crime

Psyche, determined to follow the instructions, went back to her room, and like

anybody fostering such intentions, her mind was like a storm. For this way of

solving troubles never fails to create even greater worries from the verybeginning. But the course of action had been decided, and when the

moment came she uncovered the lamp and let its light shine on the bed. Well done! But no need for the murderous knife! For there was no

poisonous snake, but the sweet and beautiful god gently sleeping. Psyche

could now not stop staring at his beauty. Examining his weapons, she pulled

an arrow out of the quiver, and on

touching the point with his finger to try

its sharpness, she pressed too hard and pierced

the skin, and out came a drop of blood. This is how Psyche was wounded

by the love weapons of Eros, falling desperately in love with him,

forgetting everything, and letting the lamp drop on the god’s shoulder,

who awakening spread his wings and flew away without a word. But as

Psyche had seized his leg, Eros, flying down, returned her to the ground,

and there explained to her how he had disobeyed his mother Aphrodite

and fallen in love with her, and how he now would be flying away from

her, which happened immediately.

Psyche went on travelling, looking for Eros, who was in no country but in Heaven lying in bed and suffering from the

love-disease. But as a result of this the world had become ugly and dull because as Pleasure, Grace, and Wit had now



disappeared from the surface of the earth, nobody cared for their children, or for their friends and

lovers, and everybody found even disgusting to show any kind of affection.

Aphrodite intervenes

So when Aphrodite learned from a gull that this disaster was the

outcome of her son’s love pains, not for a Muse or another goddess,

but for a mortal woman, who besides had been her rival because of her

extraordinary beauty, she was really upset, and coming back to Heaven

after witnessing the miserable state of earth.

Most of all Aphrodite wished now to catch the runaway princess

who would not acknowledge she had a mistress in the goddess of love,

punish her, and reestablish order and affection on earth, along with the

worship she herself deserves. So an announcement was made, and a

reward was offered to whoever would give any information about

Psyche, and the reward was a kiss from the goddess of love.

Psyche was finally caught and was brought to Aphrodite, who

promised her the sort of welcome that a good mother-in-law is bound

to give her son’s wife, and clapping her hands the goddess called her

attendants Anxiety and Grief, and gave Psyche over to them for a

lesson.



Psyche punished with tasks

When Anxiety and Grief had done their job, torturing Psyche in all possible ways, they brought her

back to Aphrodite, who let the pregnant girl know that she was not at all happy to become the

grandmother of what she called abastard. So she gave Psyche some

impossible tasks to work on, like

classifying huge quantities of different

grains, just to see, she said, how

industrious she was. But even if in every

task Psyche was helped by someonewho felt pity for her, she nurtured the desire

of ending her miserable life, and

went about planning how she

would take her life. And take her life was

what Aphrodite herself seemed to desire, because finally she ordered Psyche to fetch water from the

river Styx, a task she only survived thanks to Providence, who always notice when innocent souls arein trouble, and Zeus’ Eagle, who filled the jar with the requested Stygian water. So when Psyche

returned with the water in the jar, Aphrodite thought she must be a clever and wicked witch, and

gave her yet another task: to go to Queen Persephone in the Underworld carrying a box and ask the

queen of the dead for a little of her beauty, and having done so, bring the box back to Aphrodite, who

had to make such a drain of her own beauty while taking care of her sick son by night.



Guide to the Underworld

Psyche thought that the most direct way to the

Underworld was to jump from a tower, but as

she was about to take her life, the tower broke

into human speech, dissuaded her of taking

away without return, and instructed her about

the entrance to the Underworld that may be

found at Taenarum, and about the convenience

of taking with her two pieces of barley bread

soaked in honey for the Hound of Hades, andtwo coins in her mouth for the greedy

ferryman, Charon. Psyche was also instructed

not to feel pity for anybody in the Underworld,

and never grant the requests of the dead, as hauling them into the boat or giving any kind of help, for

Pity is strictly forbidden. Psyche did what she was told, and when she met Persephone, still following instructions she sat on

the ground instead of on the cushioned chair she was offered, and she refused the meal that was

served in front of her. For he who eats in the Underworld has to stay there forever and he who sits in

that chair forgets everything. So Persephone, having listened to Psyche, filled the box as the girl

requested, and Psyche was allowed to return to the world of lovely light.



Curiosity puts Psyche in danger But as before Psyche could not restrain her

curiosity, and thinking besides that taking a tiny

touch of the beauty contained in the box would

show that she was clever and not a fool who

lets go by such an splendid opportunity, she

opened the box, but out crept not beauty but

truly Stygian sleep, and falling to the ground,

she lay like a corpse, the open box beside her.

Eros rescues Psyche



Now Psyche would have slept forever, had not Eros, now recovered from his

sickness, come to her and awakened her, which was bound to happen. For there

is no place for Love to dwell except in the Soul, who animates all things, and

there is no meaning for the Soul to live and be awake except for the sake of Love.

So Eros shut the cloud of sleep up again in the box and roused Psyche with the

harmless prick of an arrow.



Eros helped by Zeus Eros now consoled Psyche, but fearing his

mother, he flew off to Heaven, and casting

himself as a suppliant at the supreme god’s

feet, he pleaded his case. So Zeus, who had

been defiled by Eros so many times, found

on this occasion the opportunity to prevent

Eros, by marrying him, from shooting so

many arrows at his divine heart, so often

and in such an unpredictable manner. Zeus

then called a council of the gods in which he

informed his decision, that Eros was to

marry Psyche, possess her, and cherish her

for all times to come.



Way to Immortality & Wonderful Offspring

This is how Psyche, through Eros’ office, entered Heaven and gained immortality for as

Love cannot dwell in any other place but the Soul, the Soul cannot enter Heaven but

through Love. And Lucius Apuleius, who, as far as it is known, was the only one to have

ever written these facts, though he himself denies to have committed them to writing,

says that the child of Eros and Psyche was named Pleasure.



The Story of Psyche

and ros



Submitted by:

Diesta, Junemel

Adison, Krys Joanne J.

Aligam, Krizell JoyG.

Codillero, Maryjel Y.

Escober, Jossel

Gabriel, Cayser Nicole B.

Isay, Louisse Anne B.

Submitted to:

Mrs. Jazmin Q. Colorado

Date post:	03-Jun-2018
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The Story of Psyche and Eros

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